Recreation in Louisville : an Historical Sketch
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1938 Recreation in Louisville : an historical sketch. Elizabeth Arterburn Wilson 1902-1998 University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Wilson, Elizabeth Arterburn 1902-1998, "Recreation in Louisville : an historical sketch." (1938). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1929. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1929 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE RECREATION Ilf LOUISVILLE AX HISTORICAL SKETCH • • J. D1ssertation Submit ted to the Facult,. Of the Graduate School of the Universit,. of Louisville In partial Fulf1llment of the Requirements for the Degree Of Kaster of Arts Department of Sociology El1zabeth Arterburn Wilson Year 1938 .. Alf ACDOWLEDGmmlT In writing this historical Sketch, it was necessary to asg the assistance of many people and organizations. This is by way of thanking them. Especial thanks are due Miss Frances Ingram, without whose patient help, inspiration, and encouragement this thesis could not haTe been written; Dr. Robert xntax, Mr. Chester Bower, and Dr. Ernest Hassold for their helpful critici8m; Mr. Harold L. Brigham for his tolerance during the preparation of this material; the Librarians of the University of Louisville and the Louisville Free Public Library for their xindness and help1'u.lness; the Department of Public .elfare; the Board of Park Commissioners; the Community Chest; the Council of Social Agencies; the Works Progress Administration; the Filson Club; the JUTenile Court; the Un1'ed States Children's Bureau, Department of Labor; and the ifational Recreation Association for information. In conclusion I extend my appreciation to my sister Ruth Wilson for her invaluable assistance in the preparation of this sketch. RBCREATIOB IX LOUISVILLE All HISTORICAL SD'l'CH COftEllTS I. IlITRODUOl'IOX II. HISTORICAL BAOKGROUID III. PUBLIO REOREATIOK IV. IJlTERPRE'l'ATIOlf V. BIBLIOGRAPHY VI. APPENDIX I. IITR ODUCT I 011 1 DEPIJlI'rI Olf* Recreation is that ph7sical or mental diversion brought into pla7 upon the individual in order to rean1llate him atter some special strain ot work. Recreation 1U;r be in the torm. rL organ ized play, staple amRsement, change ot occupation, or aere17 a gaJ.D8ss ot heart in contrast to great seriousD8ss. * Prize winning detinition ot Recreation submitted by a local woman in a cit7-wide contest conducted b7 the head resident ot Neighborhood House Settle ment in 1925. 2 I. Dr. Stanton Coit, founder of Universit7. Settle ment, at the tittieth anniversary ot the settlement, said 1n part: "I understand my theme is 'How it came about' - 'How thls settlement came about.' Well I don't know. Thi.ngs that have really great value nobody knows at the t1Jae. I don't know, and I should be ashamed of not know1ng, except that I have been reading books on the psychology ot great creative artists and they tell me that no artist knows what he is doing untU he does it. "1 am sure tbat I should not have the credi t for anJthing more than the torces cL work that went the same wa7 and 1 was their instrument. I have a sentence here from an author 1 very much respect which throws light on 'how it came about.' Thls writer says: 'An idea bas strength not 11ke the strength ot waves whlch grow weaker as they advance but like that of wild tire whiC,", when kindled from a sparJt, reaches impetuously about aDd grows stronger as it ad vances. The strength does not lie 1n the sparJt alone but in the t1ader lying ever,where around.' 1 was that tiny sparJt, and the great heart ot Bew York and America was the tinder. And that is the way it came about. "The sparlC was lighted - I don't know how - but it was the tinder that was there; not in the upper classes of America, it was among the people; it is the heart of democracy." The same is true ot the recreation movement, although no one person can be pOinted out as the tirelighter. Its growth has been like the spreading ot the wildtire, which reaches impetuousl,. about and grows 8tronger as it advances. This wildtire is natural, a part ot lite, tanned into warmth and brilliance by the winds ot leisure time. All people have some leisure - that amount ot. t~e remaining atter the necessary "bread,and water things ot lite have been attended to - that time in which the !Ddividual _y do the things he mos t enj o)"s. Wbether this enjoyment taEes the torm ot an organized game or a parlour triCE, determines the tn>e ot the iDd1vidual participant or his adaptabilit)" to super vised leisure time direction. our complex urban lite, our mechanized order ot living, our forced unemploy,ment, have contributed sign1t1cantl)" to g1ving the people of America more leisure time. This increase in t1Dae tor pla,.ing has brought with it a corresponding increase in ways ot utilizing it. Free play, sports of all kinds, hobbies, amusements, ranging all the way from the penn)" arcade to grand opera, have resulted. How this leisure time is employed, to a large degree determ1nes the character of the individual. Someone has said that a countrJ is known not by the products it produces, but by the individuals it turns out. How better then can one evaluate the strength of a countrJ than by turning the microscope upon the leisure t1Dae activities of its people. !here have been many theories advanced about lei~re, play, and recreation. Rainwater gives us the tollowing: "Play is a mode ot behavior, either in d1v1dual or collective, involving pleasurable act1v1ty ot any kind not undertaken for the sake of a reward beyond itselt and performed during any age period of the individual, the par t1cular act10n being determined at a g1 ven time by the somatlc structure and soclal attltudes ot the agent in conjunct10nwlth the l1fe of the grDup or groups ot which he 1s a mem.ber."J. "Play 1s not a g1ven type ot activity, auch aa, 'sporta,' 'games,' 'recrea t10ns,' or 'relaxatlons'; nor 1s 1t the 'motor hablts aDd spirlts of the past ot the race, perslsting 1n the present' (Rall), although lt frequently does exercise 'those nerve centers that are old in the race' (Patr1ck). It d(ll s not consume merely the 'surplus energJ" of the 1ndiv1dual by 'Supertluous and usele8s exerclses or facult1e8 that have been qulescent' tor a time (Spencer) but on the contrary, siDee 'a person is a center of conscious impulses which realize them.selves in rull only 1n rea11zing a soc1ety' (Small), 1t fre quently happens that 'all energy 1s expended 1n play' (Patr1ck) in response to group st1mu.lation ••••• It does not simply 'prepare tor the necessary ~ dut1e8 ot -.ture l1te' (Groos), for 1t 1s common to maturity as well as imma tur1ty, involving 'those activities wh1ch are not consciously performed tor the sake ot any reward beyond themselves' (Dewey) during any age period ot personal experience and in any portion of a g1ven day, in work1ng hours as well a8 in le1sure time, since 'play is an attitude ot mind' (Dewey) that anyone may attain in any 8ituation 'in which interest i8 selt-developing' (Patrick). It is 1. RaiDwater, Clarence, The Play Movement in the United States, Univers1ty ot chicago press, 1922, p. 8. 5 pleasurable, relative17 spontaneous, a motive force which tinds expression in art and in certain types of work, as in the 'instinct ot workmanship,' but when ::~:~0::I2 take the fora of antisocial Veblen in his "Theor7 ot the Leisure Class" sa7s that leisure does not mean iDdolence or quiescence. It cannotes non-productive consumption of time tro.. a sense d the unworthiDess of productive work and as an evidence that the individual is wealthy enough not to work ~d thus can afford a lite of idleness. However, Veblen did not attempt to extend his theories be70nd' the given group, or in his own words, "the leisure class." In the past tew ,-ears the leisure ",lass has ot a Decessity changed f'rom a group, idle from its own volition, to one whose leisure bas not become selt tap08ed. According to Beume7er3 the beg1nD1ng ot lei~e is hidden in antiquit7. People bave always had 80me free time, and to till up this time, whether it be time selt-taposed 01' not, some form of recreation was indulged in. Ceremonia18, tribal dance8, cantatioDs to the Gods, all held places in the life of the primi tive people. Social classes emerged. The upper classes were exempt from menial labor. Tools were invented, thus freelng men frODl long hours of toll, and as a result culture developed. cutten sa7s that "ciyll1za t10DS were the product ot leisure."' 2. Rainwater, Clarence, ~. cit., pp. 6-~. 3. lIeume7er, II. H. aDd E. S.;-teisure and Recreation, A. S. Barnes and Co., 1936; p. 15. 4. cutten, G. B., Threats of Lelsure, Amerlcan EducatioD Press, 1933, p. 2. 6 In Greece, although leiS1re was only tor the tavored aristocrats, ~es were taught the boys as part ot their religion. During the Middle Ages recreation went to the extreme. Betting on tights: cock tights, bull tisnts, tights between men; tairs, jousts, tourna ments, extravaganzas, theatricals, all these veered "to the lett." As a result the church stepped in aDd opposed the pleasures ot the people.